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Climate Change and the Financial Services Industry, Module 1 – Threats and Opportunities, UNEP Finance Initiatives Climate Change Working Group, 2002

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Climate Change and the Financial Services Industry, Module 1 – Threats and Opportunities, UNEP Finance Initiatives Climate Change Working Group, 2002 Climate Change & The Financial Services Industry Module 2 – A Blueprint For Action Prepared for the UNEP Finance Initiatives Climate Change Working Group by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors With guidance from UNEP Finance Initiatives Project Coach Dr. Andrew Dlugolecki GHG Market Framework Study – Module 1 2 UNEP FI TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .........................................................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................4 Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................................7 1. Climate Change and the Role of the Financial Services Industry ...........................................8 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................8 What Is the Role of the Financial Services Industry? ........................................................................9 What Can Financial Institutions Not Do?..........................................................................................11 Imperatives for Action.........................................................................................................................12 2. What Are Financial Institutions Actually Doing? ....................................................................16 Insurance Broking, Underwriting and Reinsurance........................................................................16 Commercial Banking............................................................................................................................19 Asset Management...............................................................................................................................21 Project Finance......................................................................................................................................24 Emissions Trading Markets ................................................................................................................27 Professional Services............................................................................................................................29 3. Barriers to Action.............................................................................................................................31 Cognitive Barriers in the Financial Sector.........................................................................................31 Political /Regulatory Barriers.............................................................................................................32 Analytical Barriers................................................................................................................................35 Market Operational Barriers...............................................................................................................35 4. Recommendations...........................................................................................................................37 For All Financial Services Companies and Governments ..............................................................37 For Policymakers..................................................................................................................................37 For Market Regulators.........................................................................................................................39 For All Financial Institutions ..............................................................................................................39 For Commercial Banks.........................................................................................................................40 For Insurance and Reinsurance Underwriters .................................................................................40 For Asset Managers..............................................................................................................................41 For Project Finance...............................................................................................................................42 For Professional Services.....................................................................................................................43 For Non-Financial Corporates............................................................................................................44 Immediate Action Steps ......................................................................................................................45 Contacts .....................................................................................................................................................46 APPENDIX 1.............................................................................................................................................49 ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING DIRECT INPUT INTO THE STUDY ...................................49 July 2002 Innovest SVA GHG Market Framework Study – Module 1 3 UNEP FI Preface This report constitutes the second part of a major two-phase study on the financial services sector and climate change commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiatives (UNEP FI) Climate Change Working Group (CCWG). The first phase of the study (Module 1, ‘Threats and Opportunities Facing Financial Institutions) discusses the general relevance of climate change to the financial services industry, the need for long-term, ‘beyond-Kyoto’ market-based frameworks for fostering finance sector participation and the kind of threats and opportunities facing the financial services industry in the future. Here, we present the findings of a more detailed examination of the possible future role of the finance sector in dealing with climate change, the prevailing attitudes of financial services companies in responding to the issue and the kinds of commercially-oriented adaptation and mitigation activities currently being implemented in response. The report identifies the key cognitive, political, analytical and market-related barriers to action, and provides practical recommendations to both policymakers and financial services providers on overcoming these barriers. UNEP FI CCWG is a group of companies and other bodies associated with the UNEP FIs, which are particularly concerned about the issue of Climate Change. Its aim is to operationalise the principles enunciated in the various UNEP Financial Institutions and Insurance Industry Initiative position papers by research and good practice. Its membership comprises: Andlug Consulting, Aviva, CAF, Citigroup, Dresdner Bank, Gerling Group, LPC, Munich Re, Prudential, SAM Sustainability Group, Swiss Re and UBS. Innovest Strategic Value Advisors is an internationally recognized investment research and advisory firm. Founded in 1998, the firm currently has over US $1 billion under direct sub-advisory mandates and provides custom portfolio analysis and research to leading fund managers around the world. Innovest is headquartered in New York City with major offices in Toronto and London. Dr Andrew Dlugolecki is a past chairman of the UNEP Insurance Industry Initiative. He has served the IPCC Assessment process as the chief author of the financial services chapter in the Second Report, and was review editor for that chapter in the Third Report. He has chaired two studies of Climate Change for the UK Chartered Insurance Institute. He retired from senior management in CGNU plc in 2000, and is now an independent consultant in climate change and financial services. Much of the input to this study has come from direct discussions, correspondance and interviews with practitioners from the financial services industry, and the authors are indebted to them all. A complete list of all the contributing organizations is presented in Appendix 1. The authors would like to express particular thanks to MMC Enterprise Risk (part of the Marsh & McLennan Group) for detailed review input. July 2002 Innovest SVA GHG Market Framework Study – Module 1 4 UNEP FI Executive Summary Scientific and technical reports present compelling evidence that human-induced climate change is upon us, and that its consequences could be devastating. Worldwide economic losses due to natural disasters appear to be doubling every ten years, and have reached almost $1 trillion over the past 15 years. If current trends persist, the annual loss amounts will, within the next decade, come close to US$150 billion. At the same time, the greenhouse gas emissions regulations and emissions trading schemes that are close to becoming a reality in large parts of the world will have direct competitive consequences for large sections of the economy. That financial services companies will be faced with a range of threats and opportunities on account of climate change is, therefore, no longer a matter of conjecture. What is undecided, however, is the manner in which companies should respond. As this report shows, there are radically differing opinions on the extent to which the industry could be affected by climate change, and what measures financial services companies could or should take now and in the future. With political momentum regaining pace, best practice in responding
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